Found the complete wave of comic packs at one of my local Targets yesterday. Nice figures all around, though I agree with the general consensus about the Kashyyk clone trooper's head change. I picked up the clone trooper/lieutenant set to go with my Cody figure.

I got my comic 2-packs from HasbroToyShop today - that was REALLY quick - I guess it helps to live in NJ and have HTS shipping out of PA.

Anyway, it is definitely bittersweet to get these sets considering that the line is essentially done - sure there's the Cammie/Fixer set and the Owen/Maul set, but the Deliah Blue/Darth Nihl set would have turned out great if these figures are any indication.

Unlike past sets where one of the two figures in the pack was close to SA but not quite, that isn't the case here - Exar Kun, Ulic Qel-Droma, T'ra Saa and Tholme are all SA with 14 points of articulation. Considering these will be the only versions we ever get of these characters, I'm extremely pleased they put in that extra effort. So all four of these figures are definitely a win in my book.

The Routine Valor set is really nice - the Lieutenant figure makes for a nice variant addition to your Commander Cody forces - the upgrade to the rifles with the grapping hooks is nice as well. Like Matt said - the only thing that could have made this set better is if the Lt. figure used a kama sculpt that included holsters for his two blasters.

The Blackhole Hologram and Stormtrooper set offers something different from the norm which makes it kinda cool (at least to me).

The only real dud in the wave is the Bogey Squad set - why they couldn't have just left the Kashyyyk clone as shown on the package, I'll never know, but at least with the helmet on, the trooper looks somewhat decent, so essentially this Clone from the "special" batch will never be displayed w/o a helmet on. The commander figure is just like the Lt. figure from the Routine Valor set - a nice variation to add to Gree's forces. Both of these sets look like they were rejects from another Order 66 2-pack.

This wave would have been fantastic if they had figured out a way to get the Deliah Blue/Nihl set in it, with the picture of the set actually appearing on the printed cardback for the WM sets, hopefully we'll get that set in some form down the line - even if it's as another exclusive.

I will really miss this line.

I'm still dying to know what was so objectionable about that Rogue Squadron comic that made WM back out of that set.

Logged

Peter

Letting my collecting OCD get the better of me on a DAILY basis... and loving EVERY minute of it!

Master Tholme was always one of my favorite characters and his figure is really awesome! I am so pleased with him and Tra saa, once K'Kruck is in hand I will be very happy that Hasbor managed to get the key EU Jedi Done. It's sets like this I will miss, had they stayed with stronger characters like this I beleive this line would be thriving. This is what I will miss.

The Exar Kun set is ok, I never was a huge fan of the storyline. The skirt on Kun limits the leg articulation. The Blackhole set is kinda useless but is intersting. The routine valor set is pretty lame, the orange is too dull and does not match Cody plus they have less wear deco than the Saga2 Clones. I still like them better. The Commander is ok and I do like the new weapons.

Outside of the head I kind of like the Bogy squad. I have so many extra Faies I can swap the head but if you leave the helmet on you cannot even tell. While we do have some more CP's on tap this line will be missed. I always looked forward to them but the waiter wedge and blackhole crap is what killed this line.

RIP

Agreed on Pete's Deliah Blue/Darth Nihl assessment, they would have been great and looked on par with the Tholme set.

I got my set of 12x Dllr Nep and Plourr Ilo comic packs in the mail today from EE. I really like both figures as X-Wing pilots and there's lots of opportunity here for customization. The custom sized helmet for Dllr is sweet - I like that they've made custom helmet shapes and sizes for the various alien X-wing pilots. The Plourr would make an awesome base for a Jaina pilot - I will definitely consider grabbing extras if these go on clearance/sale.

Agreed on Pete's Deliah Blue/Darth Nihl assessment, they would have been great and looked on par with the Tholme set.

GRR, those two figures are the ones I was looking forward to the MOST from Hasbro's presentation last year. As well as Jarael.

I know, I was too. I would not be surprised they have them on tap for 2011 exclusives despite them saying otherwise. I think the CP exclusives are going to do very well this year and will entice them to get some sculpts out like Nom, Norogi and others that we never got to really see.

The thing with the Nihl/Blue set is it may or may not have even been tooled, as hardcopies were never seen, just prototypes. With the line canning up at the wave it is, I think there's a distinct chance that set never had the major work put into it, and so it's much less likely to be seen ever. I could be wrong and certainly hope I am for the people who really want that set.

At Toy Fair, Hasbro said there was a good chance that everything they had in the works would be put out eventually - either via exclusive comic packs (like Camie/Fixer, Maul/Owen, etc) or by just mixing them into the basic figure waves... to refresh:

The point came up when they were discussing the Bastilla Shan figure and how they'd like EU to make a little comeback to go along with her fan choice figure (late 2011/early 2012). They confirmed that they do have quite a few of the cancelled comic pack figures tooled up, they just need to find the right time/place to drop them back into the line.

I'm sure they will be coy in the Q&A whenever they come up (practicing 'CYA' in case they never do get out), but yeah they will definitely try to get most of those cancelled figures out there eventually.

One thing you could ask in a Q&A is how far the Jarael, Deliah Blue and Darth Nihl figure got, were they only hard copies or were molds made. If you limited the number of "outs" they had at answering we may get a better idea. If any of those figures only got as far as the sculpt or a hardcopy then we may never get them but if molds were cut and some of the photos we saw were painted first shots then we have a much better chance at them coming out.

I know Blue and Nihl were in the cabinets at SDCC 2009 so they at least made the hardcopy stage. I don't know if Hasbro does internal first shots anymore (protomold or whatever they call it) so if they weren't hardcopies and Hasbro doesn't do protomolds, then they'd be first shots from molds in China.

The key is wording the question to find out which stage those figs made it to. If we could get a black and white answer from them we'd at least be able to take a guess at their ultimate future, a question Hasbro probably wouldn't answer in any definitive way.

E...

Logged

"I sell the drugs that keep you people from seeing dragons at night." - Gus "Psych"

The figures I've seen at shows are often resin hand-painted prototypes, not hard copies/test shots of figures. Like you'll notice on a lot of the Toy Fair imagery you can see the pins in the shoulder joints and things. I don't know if that's the case for most shows, just the ones I've been to seem to be that way.

I recently went back and bought up almost all of the Legacy comics I was missing (I'm down to only needing three issues out of the 45 so far) and I also picked up the graphic novels that collected the entire Vector storyline - and I have to say, the Vector storyline was actually pretty cool.

It also got me thinking about another fatal flaw of the comic pack line - they never gave a buyer the opportunity to get three or four issues of the same comic as part of purchasing a wave of figures.

Many times, Dark Horse will have an issue of a comic book series pick right up where the previous issue left off. In addition, they often have the end of that same book be nothing more than a lead-in to next month's issue.

While this makes good business sense on Dark Horse's part, it doesn't really lend itself to a single issue being packaged and sold along with two figures. Essentially, the comic book is a valueless "bonus" and what you're really buying is the two figures - unless you go to your local comic shop or look online to buy the rest of the issues that make up that storyline.

So if Hasbro were to ever revist the comic pack concept, I would like it if they brought the "themed wave" approach to this sub-line.

Throughout the run of Legacy, they have done sub-stories that were spread out over two or four issues. Why not put those sets of two or four issues together in the same assortment - and then advertise that if you buy both packs (in the case of a two issue story) or all four packs (in the case of a four issue story) you will be able to read the ENTIRE story.

Sure we would want them to keep the figure offerings in the packs strong, but it couldn't hurt that someone who collected the toys would also get a set of issues from a single comic book series that actually told a complete story - it would turn the valueless "bonus" comic book into something worth having since it would be "complete".

Taking the idea one step further, there were twelve issues from across four comic book lines that made up the Vector storyline.

Why not release three cases with four new sets in each (2 of each set in a case) and cover the entire twelve issue run? The first case could have all four issues from Knights of the Old Republic, the second case could have the two issues from Dark Times and two issues from Rebellion and then the last case could have the four issues from Legacy. Market the three cases as covering the entire Vector storyline and hype the fact that the twelve comic packs will bring 24 characters from that series to "life" as action figures.

What do you guys think?

Logged

Peter

Letting my collecting OCD get the better of me on a DAILY basis... and loving EVERY minute of it!

I think it would work, but maybe if it were spread out. They could do an entire arc (2-4 issues) over the course of a year. I think doing 4 comic packs from the same arc at once would be difficult in terms of character selection, or even interest; for me at least, not being a big SW comic reader, it would have to be a very significant story for me to invest in. I think for Hasbro to commit to a single story like that all at once, it would have to be a 'bigger' entertainment event than a comic arc. Just my two cents.